1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electrooptic modulators, and more particularly to an interferometer based on an electrooptic modulator.
2. Related Art
Interferometers have been historically useful instruments for the characterization of light or the material that light passes through. Some are used for estimating the refractive indices of optical material, such as the Rayleigh, Kosters, Dowell, Jami, or the Sirks-Pringsheim interferometers. Others are used for measuring the angular dimensions of astronomical objects such as the Michelson stellar interferometer, or for making microscopic measurements as is the case with the Dyson interferometer microscope. Then there are the Zemike phase contrast microscope, the Gabor hologram and the Fabry-Perot etalon. All of these instruments exploits the same phenomenon of using perfectly or partially coherent light to produce an interference pattern, a phenomenon that was first demonstrated in Young's experiment.